


Us First

by TellMeNoAgain



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Domestic Fluff, M/M, Multi, Peter Parker/Tony Stark/Unspecified, Polyamory, Post-Fight Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-19
Updated: 2020-08-19
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:08:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,887
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25990315
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TellMeNoAgain/pseuds/TellMeNoAgain
Summary: Just a little drabble, because sometimes relationships aren't perfect.  And what do you do, then?
Relationships: Peter Parker/Tony Stark
Comments: 28
Kudos: 36





	Us First

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to everyone who has encouraged me to write these little fics. It's helping so much to get me un-stuck on the big monstrous fics, and I appreciate it.
> 
> This has been briefly, if thoroughly, beta'd by jf4m and mindwiped, each of whom I definitely owe an entire bakery case of donuts.
> 
> It was cheer-read by livvibee (BLESS).
> 
> All remaining mistakes are mine. I'm very stubborn, y'all, and well. Imperfect.

Peter sighs, feeling Tony’s arm and leg tighten where they rest across his shoulders and thighs, wrapping him tight and pressing him down into the mattress. His throat is tight, his eyes hot, but at least he hasn’t _cried_ , like some kid with his first heartbreak.

Tony kisses his shoulder, his lips hot even through the thick layer of t-shirt there. “It’s not going to be perfect,” he repeats, for like the millionth time, his voice so steady and sure. “That’s not real, that’s not _real life_ , Underoos.”

Peter snorts, “I know that, _Robocop_.”

Tony chuckles a little and murmurs, “Just bringing out the classics, Pete.”

“Reminding me I’m pretty much a kid next to you two? Not helping,” sighs Peter with real exhaustion in his voice. It’s late. Too late. Maybe he should just tell Tony to go, get some sleep.

“Hey, that’s millionaire genius superhero kid,” Tony mutters into his shoulder, “and don’t you forget it. You worked hard for all of that, we can see you working on us, too. On this. It’s not easy.”

Yeah, well, there’s only two of them in this bed, isn’t there? Peter sighs. That’s his own fault. “Look, you both can forgive me all day- _night_ long- but if _I_ don’t forgive me, we’re still in this fucked up place where we’re fighting,” Peter says, hearing his voice break a couple of times, but spitting out the words anyway.

“This isn’t a fight,” Tony says firmly, kissing his shoulder again, rubbing his hand up and down Peter’s outstretched arm. “This is a misunderstanding. Someone assumed something, and someone else got hurt, and maybe someone _else_ lashed out, and that happens, Peter. That’s going to happen, we’re all human, we’re all under a lot of pressure. Hell, you want to see a _fight_ , I can have JARVIS roll tape on some of our bigger clashes, before we had you.”

“I don’t want to see you fight,” whispers Peter in a voice that hurts and makes his stomach tremble. Because that’s the thing, isn’t it? That’s where it all went south. Peter can’t- he doesn’t know what he’s doing and he needs them to know what they’re doing and if they’re fighting and he’s, he’s there for it- he knows they fight sometimes when he’s not there, when he’s busy and not around- but- he can’t _fight_ like that, and then do the thing they do where they just keep going until they figure it out, on the other side, and everything’s okay again. 

He _can’t_. 

There’s so many ways he’s not like them, and this one? This is the biggest one.

“Oh, babe, I know,” says Tony, scooting impossibly closer, pressing down even more, lips pressing into Peter’s shoulder in a continuous kiss as he mumbles, “I know, I know, it’s gotta be terrifying when we- and you’re so- you don’t know all the history, you-”  
  
“I was so scared,” Peter confesses in that same choked whisper, feeling wetness slide from his eye and down his temple to the pillow case. “I just- I didn’t know- I didn’t want to _pick a side_ -”

“Hey, hey, no, no, that’s not what we do,” Tony soothes him. “That’s _never_ \- neither one of us is _ever_ going to ask you to-”

“You’re in the bed with me,” mutters Peter blackly. It’s only Tony, and that’s- that’s telling. _Someone’s_ picking sides.

“Yeah, because we all know I’m the best at convincing you to love yourself a little, Peter,” teases Tony, making Peter’s cheeks burn. “Not because- we’re a _team_ , Peter. We’re a team, and we’re all equals, here, and no one is ever picking sides. Ever. We’re all on the same side. So let me help, huh? Let us help.”

“What- what should I do?” whispers Peter. He can’t believe he’s asking. Tony’s absolute shit at everything, it’s been a shock to learn, he’s a wreck of a person behind the public persona. Why is Peter asking _Tony_.

 _Maybe because Tony has so much experience being in the wrong_ , says a small voice deep inside him. Maybe because Tony has so much experience letting his loved ones down and fucking up and doing cocaine and hookers and other really bad shit before Peter was born, when he was the same age as Peter is now. _And_ he’s survived all of it, and somehow still gotten to this place, today, where he can kiss and keep the both of them.

Well, maybe not today, today. Today has been… rough. Really rough.

“Say _I’m sorry_ , again,” Tony mumbles into his shoulder. “And again and again until it feels like enough. Say, _I won’t do it again_ , and mean it, promise it to yourself, until you feel like you can believe that, too. Say, _I believe in you_ -”

“I do believe in _you,”_ cries Peter, pulling his arms tight to his body. “I believe in both of _you_ , I just- I just- I don’t know why you even _want_ me. Look at you! You’re both- both perfect, and then-”

“Not perfect,” interrupts Tony, kissing Peter’s shoulder fiercely, wrapping his arms tight around Peter’s arms, pulling his whole body back into Tony’s chest, his leg sliding to wrap up Peter’s legs, too. “Neither one of us is perfect, the relationship we had before you was a complete trainwreck, and if you’d let me show you the highlights reel, you’d be horrified and run screaming from us, and we’d have to chase you down. And this thing we’re building between us? _All three of us?_ It’s not going to be perfect, either. No one needs that. No one needs perfect.”

“ _I_ need perfect,” whispers Peter.

“No, you want to _be_ perfect,” says Tony in a voice that sounds as tight as Peter’s, now, tight and thick with emotion that makes Peter breath raggedly as he listens, hanging on every word, “but, Peter, hon, we’re not complaining. Neither one of us. It happened. It happened and it sucked, and no one deserved any of that, there were many tantrums thrown, and no one deserved a single second of that mess. And so now we all say _I’m sorry, I won’t do it again_ , and then we work to help each other so it doesn’t happen again. It’s not even a fight, Peter. We all want it to work out, that’s the opposite of a fight.”

His voice is so calm, and assured, and his words are so reasonable. Maybe it’s- it’s time to hope he’s right, and that this can be fixed, that this- that Peter can make this right, somehow. Maybe it’s time to acknowledge this is one more thing Peter doesn’t know how to do, but Tony’s done a million times, and he knows all the right steps, and he hasn’t steered Peter down the wrong path, so far. Not once. 

Peter nods, releasing a deep shuddering breath.

“Yeah?” breathes Tony.

“Yeah,” sighs Peter, scrubbing his cheek against the pillowcase.

“You’re a shit and I’m the king of the world,” Tony reminds him, releasing Peter a little to shake him. “I can’t believe you’re actually listening to me. Mark this day on the calendar.”

“I can’t believe you actually _helped_ ,” protests Peter a little shakily, but there’s a small smile on his lips. Tony’s probably right. 

He really wants to say _I’m sorry_ over and over again, that’s what he _wants_ to do, and hearing that maybe that’s what he _can_ do, is, uh. Well. He really wants to go say it.

And maybe hear it a few more times, too.

“I can’t believe you’re taking my advice,” Tony tells him in a stunned voice as they sit up. Tony kisses his shoulder. “You just- you just trust me so much, do you know what a gift that is? I’m not- I haven’t done anything-”

Tony’s a wreck, when it comes to the people he loves. Peter loves that about him. He leans forward and silences Tony’s babble with a kiss. “Shut up, old man,” he says against Tony’s lips.

“Shut me up,” challenges Tony, right on cue.

“Maybe later. I have to, uh, say _I’m sorry_ about a million times,” Peter says with a wince.

“Oh, you’ll start to believe it by twenty-five,” Tony says, “and really, once you hear it said back about fifteen, and the waterworks start, I mean, you’re mostly done except for the hard actually-never-doing-it-again thing.”

“Yeah,” sighs Peter, feet on the floor, running hands over his face and through his hair. “Yeah, okay. Let’s- let’s go.”

“I’m never letting either one of you live this down,” Tony tells him, pushing him up off the bed. “I was right.”

“You’re not right, yet,” Peter points out, relieved because it feels like they’re back on solid ground, already. Relieved because it feels like it’s going to be okay, now. The sensation feels like an anchor, weighing him down again, giving him a calm mooring on what are still some rocky, rough seas. No need for fight or flight, though. This is going to be okay. Tony’s certain of it, and Peter- Peter trusts in Tony’s certainty.

“Yeah, yeah, details,” Tony teases, holding out a hand. Peter takes it, threading their fingers together, completely unsurprised when Tony pulls him closer to kiss their joined knuckles, pair by pair. “You got this,” Tony tells him. “We’re all in this together. We’ll _help_ , Peter.”

“Yeah, I-” Peter squeezes the hand that holds his. “Yeah, I need that.”

“You sure do, you’re a hot mess, Peter Parker,” Tony chuckles.

“Hey,” protests Peter because _hello, kettle_.

“I never said I wasn’t,” Tony informs him cheerfully. “My plan is to slide to my knees and crawl across the floor. What route are you taking?”

“Less dramatic,” says Peter firmly.

“Spoilsport,” says Tony, and his eyes are twinkling, so he’s probably _not_ going to crawl across the floor on his knees, although that image was- uh, interesting.

“Drama queen,” Peter laughs, a little desperately. God, what is _wrong_ with him today?

They stand outside the door and Tony turns to face Peter again. He slides his hands up and down Peter’s biceps and says, “You’ll be fine. We’ll be fine. We’re all in this together, hon. We’ll help. It’s hard, but it’s worth it.”

Peter nods, voice choked off, and Tony places a gentle kiss on his lips before turning to knock on the door.

“Who is it?” calls the muffled, sleep-stricken voice inside.

“Us,” says Tony, and he already sounds serious again, serious and even slightly tentative, like for all his big words, he’s not looking forward to this apology session, either.

Peter bumps his shoulder against Tony’s and gives the other man a small smile. Peter’s right here. He’ll help. They’re a _team_. Tony doesn’t have to do this alone. 

Tony quirks a smile at him, hand already turning the knob as the muffled voice says with slightly slurred exasperation, “Come on in.”

Peter hears Tony take a deep breath, so he does the same, and then he’s following Tony as Tony enters, saying, “Just hear us out, okay? We’re here to _apologize_.”

“ _I_ should be-” begins the voice in the dark, starting to sound more awake. There’s the rustle of blankets, and Peter swallows.   
  
“No, us first, this time,” says Tony firmly.

“Yeah,” croaks Peter. “Us first.”

**Author's Note:**

> SO WHO DO YOU WANT IN THAT BED? COME SCREAM NAMES AT ME. I had a brief, crazy idea that if I every get free time, I'll add a choose-your-own-adventure style second chapter, where I write the make-up portion of the fight with a different character each chapter, lol


End file.
